Christmas Greetings

Christmas is here again, and what a mixed bag it can be.   We have a small amount of snow and our transport system is in chaos.

However there is good news!  This Christmas Eve it is reported that "British researchers have devised what they say is a guaranteed method of pulling crackers, to avoid disappoint at the dinner table this Christmas.   Diners are guaranteed success if they follow the formula O=11xC/L+5xQ which is based on the angle, grip and quality of the cracker".   I won't explain what O C/L and Q stand for. I am just going to enjoy the food and the company and if some else gets the present in the cracker, good for them!

Do we go a bit overboard at Christmas?  Having grown up and lived in the UK, it is part of our culture. I was talking to a lady who has lived in Asia for 20 years, and enjoyed a different culture. For her, Christmas was a time for sharing the good news about Jesus Christ - free from the commercial pressures of the West.

I enjoy much of Christmas, the getting together of family and friends, the food, the colour and bright lights. But present giving gets a bit much. What do you give people who have everything they need?  Not that this applies to the younger members!  Many people do give to charities at Christmas, realising that there are people who most certainly don't have everything they need.

Research for Superdrug reveals that  "The average family of four will spend a whopping £1,695 on Christmas this year.

Presents alone will cost a total of £606 while a staggering £321 will be spent on food and drinks.





People will shell out £125 on decorations for the home, Christmas tree, garden and dinner tables and a further £22 on cards, wrapping paper and postage.  Christmas parties will also cost a small fortune - including £130 on new party outfits, £32 on party accessories such as handbags and jewellery, £15 on make-up and £15.08 on perfume or aftershave."


Phew!  Fortunately our spending is nowhere near the average family. But I can't help thinking of what could be done with £1,700 in Sierra Leone, and in many other places too.  However, as St. Paul reminds us, "If I give all I possess to the poor.....but have not love, I gain nothing".   Men and women need more than money, we all need to know the depth of the love of God to be fully human and to become children of God. That is why a baby came at Christmas. Jesus came to show us the love and power of God - in a person.

John Wesley, the 18th century evangelist and Father of Methodism, taught that people could be perfected in love towards God and their fellow men in this life through their faith in Jesus. Far from producing an inward looking group of people in a "holy huddle", this exploded into a movement that produced missionaries, schools, orphanages, the first trade unions and support for many social campaigns, such as the ending of the slave trade.

So that is what Christmas is about to me. A man coming to show us God, so that we might be changed and into what? To "reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the full measure of the fulness of Christ". (Eph.4.13).  What a calling!  It's a big one.

Think of it in terms that Nelson Mandela used in his inauguration speech.    "Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be?"    We are called to be the city set on a hill that all can see!

Orientation Day - a challenging time.

On Thursday, 3rd December, fourteen people met at the Riverside Centre in Derby for the day that would show us  how to teach elementary health care principles to a less developed nation. John and Linden Boothby, and their friend Janet, were from Links International and were leading us for the day. They had travelled up that morning from Sussex.  Eight people were from Community Church Derby, and three were from other churches.

Our visit will be during the first week in March, but to encourage us to expect great things, here are excepts from a report of their recent trip to Malawi.

Janet teaching a group recently in Malawi. It was emphasized to us that the programme is based on discussion rather than the teacher standing at the front.

A participant in Malawi wrote, ‘The workshop was an eye opener. We discovered that we can influence our community to follow preventive measures against most of our killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, dysentery just to mention a few. As we were discussing we recognised the need of concentrating on sanitation in our community, and we agreed that sanitation will be our starting point. Our mind set has completely changed towards our community. When we were coming back on the 2 hour drive, we kept on discussing how we can implement the healthy tips that we learnt from the workshop. The fact that we have a role to play in our community cannot be emphasised enough. This workshop was worth attending!’

In Derby, Linden emphasied getting the Local Chiefs on board.  The Malawi report quotes Chief Chapsinja who wrote, ‘The training was timely. I will ensure that my community is practicing good health practices. In our country Chiefs are keys to the community, that is why I personally attended the training. I am convinced that the training is good so I will personally teach my fellow chiefs in their monthly meeting and work closely with the Village Development Committee to ensure that what we have learnt is being put into practice. I want my village to be a model village.’

We already have a good relationship with the Chief in Looking Town. I hope he will attend. In the photo below he is presenting me with the traditional welcome gift of Kola nuts and  water.

Behind us is the Rev. Samuel Kargbo, Alpha's brother, who is a Baptist Minister and very involved in the over-sight of the programme.

Kola Nuts

I was not expecting the gift and was not sure what he was giving me. We shared the nuts later and I am told that in Africa it is a symbol of peace, friendship, and hospitality, a bit like the Indian peace pipe. We are looking forward to the visit in March. Alpha has also promised me that we shall be treated to one of the high-lights of their year - the School Sports Day.

Healthcare Visit to Sierra Leone in March 2010. Latest.

There is still time to think about going. If you read some of the stories of the orphans in the post below, you will see why health care is a critical issue.  To read all the details about this visit, please click on green health care label below.

Community Healthcare - Update 3

The team is coming together well, but places are still available. There could be a need for able-bodied people willing to help with building work. On the healthcare side this would probably involve assisting in building pit latrines, depending on the assessment of needs when the team is in Looking Town.

The Orientation Day, which anyone hoping to go is asked to attend if at all possible, will be from 9.45 am to 4.00 pm on Thursday, 3rd December, at the Riverside Centre, Derby. If you wish to attend please contact tswindaleuk@yahoo.co.uk

To see all the posts on Healthcare together, click on green health care label.

Want to know what Sierra Leone is really like? Watch this.

Having visited the country on six occasions and travelled to Bo, Kenema and Makeni, and into the villages - as well as Freetown and the Western Peninsula, I would say this gives a great impression of the transport, roads, shops, markets, homes, the beauty of the countryside and the friendly people. I loved it!

High days and holidays

In the life of the school some days have a special appeal. I was present for some of them and a lot of work is put in to make a great day for all concerned.

Sports Day

First off is the school Sports Day, which usually takes place in March.

The school's houses are lined up for competition

Obstacle Race

Carrying the Baby

The eating competition

A fine group of sportsmen and women

Thanksgiving Day

After a formal service in church, the school marches through the community, accompanied by a band. Members of the team of 2005 are on one of the photographs

We have arrived back at base!

Field Trip

This was a most impressive occasion, and the staff took the opportunity to show the children a number of modern aspects of Sierra Leone.  We travelled by bus to the new exhibition centre in Freetown where the boys and girls looked over the equipment that was for sale.  We also visited Hastings Airport where we were permitted to board a plane used by the Red Cross. Photographs were not permitted there!

Inspecting generators at the Exhibition Hall

The Day of the African Child, 16th June every year.

In Soweto, South Africa, thousands of black school children took to the streets in 1976, in a march more than half a mile long, to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot down; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured.

To honour the memory of those killed and the courage of all those who marched, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on 16 June every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organization of African Unity. The Day also draws attention to the lives of African children today.

The day is celebrated with music, dancing, food and maybe a film.

Sir David Frost interviews the President, His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma

Ernest Bai Koroma, a former insurance broker, won the presidential election in 2007. He now faces the daunting task of reviving Sierra Leone's fortunes after years of corruption, economic mismanagement and violence.

His Excellency will be in London for a Conference on the 18th and 19th November 2009 where, together with such worthies as the Minister for International Development and the World Bank Vice-President for Africa, they will be looking at the Government of Sierra Leone's 'Agenda for Change', - a poverty reduction strategy, and also Trade and Investment opportunities.